Infernal Subway

Sweat poured from his head and his lungs burned. He could see his destination up ahead, the faint glow radiating in the darkness of night.

Soma burst through the stairway door into the lobby, startling everyone in the hall. At such a late hour, the only person present had been Hibari who jumped nearly toppled from her seat at the desk. Her wide eyes stared blankly at him as he strode toward the desk like a bat out of hell.

"Um… Good evening, Soma. What can I do for you?"

"Where are they?"

"…Who?"

"N - Reaper and Hamasaki."

"Let me check."

Soma's hand twitched impatiently as her fingers tapped the keys. Her eyes scrolled across the screen as the data log appeared. It was very late, so there were few teams in the field at that time. Only three, in fact.

"Looks like they went to the Infernal Subway."

"How long ago did they leave?"

"Hm… I'm not sure. I think I saw them heading out about an hour ago? Would you like a transport - hey, wait!" Hibari called after his retreating form, but within moments he had already disappeared through the lobby doors.

Soma had worked in Fenrir for many, many years and was very familiar with their day-to-day operations. A transport this late at night would be far too troublesome. Assuming that any pilots were even awake at this hour, refueling and maintenance were done in the early morning. He would need to wait for both to be completed before he head could even head out, and he simply didn't have that kind of time. In fact, he didn't know how much time he had at all considering how long ago they had left. He may already be too late.

Shaking his head, he rid himself of the morbid thoughts and pressed forward. for once, he was grateful for his Aragami half as he summoned a burst of speed to accelerate towards the entrance. He ignored his muscles' protestant groans and rushed down the collapsed roadway into the blazing caverns below. His platinum hair stuck stubbornly to the sides of his face as he entered the subway. The blistering heat nearly suffocated his gasping lungs as he darted back and forth through the numerous tunnels and roadways.

Damn it! Where are they?!'

He was growing desperate. After exploring nearly every corner of each area, he hadn't found even a trace of the missing God Eaters. His search so far had rewarded him only with some wandering Aragami that he had been careful to avoid. He couldn't waste any time fighting monsters when his teammates were probably fighting each other. Wrapping around a different corner, he made his way down yet another subway tunnel.

Panting, Soma's sprinting finally slowed to a light jog and then a walk as he came to a stop. He was at a loss. Where could he possibly taken her? Letting his God Arc fall to the ground, he leaned against it and tried to catch his breath. Running his free hand through his drenched hair, he sighed.

Maybe they weren't here after all. The pair had left some time ago, and Hamasaki was trusted among nearly everyone in the Den. It wouldn't be too difficult to take a transport to one location then travel to another. Maybe they had moved on. Calming his breaths, he stood straight and turned around, making for the exit…

You are my sunshine… my only sunshine…

… until he heard that song. Her mother's song. The song that had that been harnessed, exploited, and abused to brainwash his friend into submission. His sensitive ears could hear the soft melody flowing through an opening. And they were very, very close. Hoisting his weapon from the ground, he turned and darted down a different tunnel, following the sound.

You make me happy… when skies are grey…

Twisting around a corner, Soma leapt over a pile of debris and slid beneath a dangling beam.

You'll never know dear… how much I love you…

The sound was right around the bend. He had to stop them. He was almost out of time. As he rounded a bend, he saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Literally. Adrenaline pumping, Soma erupted with a violent burst of speed. He pushed his Oracle cells to their absolute limit, rapidly approaching the glowing opening.

Please don't take my sunshine away…

Emerging from the elevated pathway, Soma found himself standing above a large open area. The lava surrounding the landmass lit up the entire room, and a wave of heat made his eyes water. In the center of the landmass he could see two God Eaters… and a copious amount of blood. And quickly approaching his feet was… nothing.

With no time to stop, he summoned all of his strength and threw himself from the ledge. Soaring over the bubbling volcanic pool, he watched as she smiled at Ichiro for what would be the final time. He could see the light fading from her eyes as her song came to an end. He wasn't going reach them in time. So he did the only thing he could possibly think of in that moment.

He said her name.

"NEO!"

Ichiro staggered backward as their uninvited guest suddenly appeared from the sky. Bending his knees, he rolled along the ground before rising to his feet. Brandishing his God Arc, Soma leveled his fiercest expression, staring daggers at his commanding officer. He had no concerns with insubordination. His only concern was the young woman gasping in a pool of her own blood.

Part of him was concerned. Inhuman or not, Soma was tired. He barely had the strength to make the jump, let alone battle another God Eater. And Ichiro was strong. He would not be an easy opponent. Even if he were to defeat him in combat, there was no saying that Neo would survive the ordeal. She was already injured and her condition was worsening by the minute. Ignoring him however, wasn't an option either. Even in his injured state, it would take only a moment for him to catch him as he lifted her from the ground, slaying them both. Preparing himself, he gripped his God Arc, bracing for whatever Hamasaki was prepared to throw at him.

…But Hamasaki did nothing.

He didn't respond at all. His weapon lay at his side and his eyes glassy eyes stared forward at the lava pool behind them. His gaze held no vestige of its usual strength or determination. It barely held any feeling at all. There was no malice here… only pain. He looked so broken, even more so than the bleeding woman lying on the ground. He made no move to stop him. He was ready to die. It was almost as though he wanted to. Had he been planning to join her…?

Slowly, Soma lowered his weapon to the ground. He could clearly see that Ichiro wasn't going to fight.

He had no fight left in him.

A few feet away, the New Type stared blankly at the stony ceiling above. Her mind faded into an empty clouded space as the sound of her name reached her ears. Not Reaper. Not Deadeye. Not even Specimen 13. None of the titles or labels she had been given over the years… but her actual given name.

Slowly, a single memory rose to the surface.

"Who are you?"

"Me…? I'm Soma. Who are you?"

"I'm Specimen 13, the Next-Generation Enhanced Operative… but Yuki calls me Neo."

"Next-Gener - what? That's… quite a mouthful."

"I know. You can call me Neo too if you want. Or you can even call me Deadeye."

"Geeze, how many names do you have?!"

"A lot of them. Different people call me different things."

"Wow. You must have a lot of different friends then."

"Not really. I only have the one… or it could be two. You wanna be my friend?"

"Hmph… I guess. But only because you asked first."

"Haha! Sounds good to me!"

Her pupils dilated as her mind replayed the memory over and over again, slowly being joined by many others.. They grew louder and faster until they were echoing off the walls of her mind. Then… chaos.

Her subconscious burst forth like water from a broken dam. Years of repressed thoughts and memories flooded forth, conflicting and overlapping in an uncontrolled, raging tempest. She remembered playing with Ichiro in the facility and Dr. Hamasaki teaching her to write in Japanese. She remembered her confinement in a metal cage, shaking the bars and trying to get out. She remembered being strapped to table surrounded by men in those white coats. Those, horrible, dreadful coats.

Stop…

She remembered her hours of training in the targeting room, firing bullets in every direction. She remembered growling as pain coursed through her neck after every missed shot. She remembered eating ice cream with Ichiro in her chamber afterwards, laughing as he spilled a drop on his shirt.

Please, make it stop…

And she remembered Soma. She remembered his youthful features smiling at her through the screen, before he rapidly aged, growing, morphing, and changing until he took the form of the man standing away from her.

Stop it… stop it!

Her ears rang. Her head spun. She clapped her hands over her ears to drown out the noise… but to no avail. She shut her eyes and clenched her teeth, trying hopelessly to silence the overwhelming cacophony as a searing pain threatened to split her head in two.

STOP!

Neo couldn't take the pain any longer. Unable to quell the violent storm in her mind, she unleashed hell upon the world around her.

Ichiro flinched as Neo came to life in an eruption of sound. Her voice echoed through the tunnels and off the walls as she screamed at the top of her lungs, trying to drown out the noise.

"Shit! Soma, we have to stop her!"

Soma didn't hear him. He was staring very intently at Neo. His eyes glazed over as his mind went blank. In that moment, he couldn't think. He couldn't feel. He was driven forward only by instinct as he followed the siren's call.

Ichiro gripped his God Arc, and lifted it, turning his back to them.

"SOMA!"

"Huh?" At the second voice shouting at him, he snapped out of it, returning to the present. What the hell just happened? On the ground at his feet, Neo was kicking and screaming in a panic. She was having a meltdown. When had he gotten so close to her? "Hey. Hey! Calm down!" Soma knelt to the ground and shook her, trying to silence her screams.

He shook her gently, concerned for her bleeding wound but she didn't seem to care. She didn't even realize he was there. She was trapped in her own world, trying to do anything and everything to silence the voices in her mind.

"Neo!" Soma grabbed her hands and pulled them from the sides of her head, shaking her into sentience. At the sound of her name, she froze. Her eyes slowly opened and her gaze met with his own.

"…Soma?"

He flinched at the sound. The moment she spoke his name, he knew. Any suspicions he harbored vanished without a trace. In her tone he heard the shadow of his lost friend, returned to him in the flesh… the dangerously torn, bleeding flesh.

As he released her wrists, he became painfully aware of the crimson staining his hands. His eyes fell to her torn clothing and ruptured skin, as red liquid continued to ooze from the opening.

She was still bleeding.

But that didn't make any sense. He had watched her heal repeatedly on the lab table. He had watched her body split apart and fuse within a matter of moments… why wasn't it working?

An earsplitting screech interrupted his thought as a Zygote dove from above. He rose quickly to his feet, grabbing his God Arc as Ichiro intercepted the creature, slicing it in two. Wincing, he lifted his weapon again. He was focused now, with far more energy than he had shown mere moments ago. He had a new mission. And his tension was quickly justified as alarm bells started sounding from every direction. Enemies were approaching… a lot of them.

Turning, he lifted his buster and swung, intercepting an Ogretail mid-leap.

"What the hell is going on?!" Soma shouted turning and splitting apart another incoming Zygote. Where were they all coming from?

"…It's Reap - Neo." There was no point in using that name anymore. Reaper was gone.

Beside him, Soma turned and brought down another Ogretail. And then another. Their numbers were growing quickly as nearly every Aragami within the Infernal Subway made its way to their location. They would be quickly overwhelmed at this rate, and neither one them had the strength or stamina for a drawn out fight. Soma was too tired. Ichiro was in too much pain. And Neo was completely incapacitated. Her broken body trembled as her voice began to crack.

"I… I didn't mean to… I'm sorry, it's all my fault…"

"It isn't your fault Neo, it's mine. I let this happen…" Ichiro shook his head, wincing as he swung his sword through a Fall Zygote.

"We don't have time for this! We need to get out before we're surrounded." Soma leapt over Neo, bringing his blade down upon an emerging Fallen Cocoon Maiden. Numerous as they were, he could handle the smaller creatures. But something larger was coming. He could feel it. If it reached them, there would be no escape. But their options were few. In his damaged state, Ichiro was in no condition to carve out a path. That only left Soma, but someone needed to carry Neo.

"Damn it!"

"…Soma."

Both God Eaters turned at the sound of her mournful voice.

"I can do it. I'll… open a path for you."

"Idiot, you can't even move!" Soma spun his blade, destroying another Cocoon Maiden.

Beneath him Neo slowly turned, groaning as she rolled onto her stomach. With agonized breaths, she slowly crawled, leaving a crimson path as she dragged her broken body towards the headless Ogretail.

"The hell?! Stop moving, or you're gonna bleed out!"

Behind them, Ichiro took notice of what Neo was doing. He saw the look of determination in her eyes as she dragged herself towards her target. Nodding his head, he backed towards Soma, and raised his sword. In the distance, a pair of rapidly moving shadows were approaching them. They had run out of time.

"Soma. Listen to me. I am going to raise my shield. I need you to get behind it, okay? When it comes down, I want you to take Neo and run as fast as you can."

"Have both of you lost your minds?! Damn it Neo, stop!'

She ignored him. Her hand gripped the Aragami's leg as she dragged herself forward, laying herself against it. She turned her head and gave both men a weak smile. Then, lifting her hand, she rammed it down the Ogretail's headless neck with a sickening squelch. Her nails tore through the Aragami's flesh, searching until she found the hidden treasure within. Grunting in pain, she tore out the object of her desire… the core. It was a small, pulsating, nauseating thing. Soma nearly wretched at sight of it.

Ichiro continued backing towards them, cutting down any Aragami that got too close. "Soma, let's go." He eyed the approaching shadows nervously and lifted his leg, kicking a Zygote's body towards the woman on the ground. Soma could only watch the situation unfold, gaping at the New Type as she gave him a small smile. Then she did the most grotesque thing he had ever seen. She devoured it. His eyes bulged and his face twisted into indescribable expression. And it only grew worse as she grabbed the Zygote Ichiro had offered her and repeated the process.

Soma watched in abject horror as she devoured four different cores, her body moving with slightly more vigor with each offering.

Wiping the blood from the corners of her mouth, she smirked at them. She looked so calm, as though it were the most natural thing in the world. And perhaps for her… it was. Until that moment, he had never been so keenly aware of the fact that this woman had survived outside of an Aragami wall for nearly two years. He had never considered the possibilities of how exactly she had survived.

Her scarf sparkled dangerously as she forced herself to her knees… then the sparks grew. Around them even more creatures were appearing, Ogretails, Zygotes, Cocoon maidens, and more.

"Soma… " Ichiro warned as he watched the New Type and the approaching Aragami. They were nearly upon them. He activated his shield, a massive wall large enough guard both of their bodies.

Soma's eyes flicked furiously between the shield, the sparking New Type, and the approaching creatures almost within striking distance from nearly all sides. At this point, they had nothing left to lose. The three of them were dead either way. Whatever she was planning, he could only hope that it would work. Turning he darted behind the augmented shield as Neo's scarf began to glow. It burned a cerulean hue as her Oracles cells reached their limits. She trembled, her eyes focused on the approached enemies, her mind concentrating on her rising current. Among the wave of smaller Aragami were seven Chi-You, now soaring toward them at frightening speed.

Lifting her head, Neo shook, biding her time until they were within 20 feet. With a screech, she discharged in the same way that she had during Moon in the Welkin and on the plane… but on a much larger scale. Ichiro's shield shook violently as a wave passed over them absorbing the voltage and protecting them from her strike. Around them, every creature within the blast stuttered and tumbled to the ground, twitching under the effects of her violent shock. Overloaded, Ichiro's shield fell.

"Get moving!"

Soma didn't need a second warning. Rushing forward, he gently lifted Neo from the ground trembling as he felt the last of her voltage leave her. He felt a sense of déjà vu as she rested in his arms, similarly to how she had months ago when he found her collapsed in the hallway. Turning, he rushed towards the exit, passing through their stunned enemies.

. . .

The pair thundered through the tunnels, running for the exit as fast as their exhausted legs could carry them. Neo groaned listlessly in Soma's arms, growing delirious from blood loss, and agitating her Oracle cells. The opening was in sight. They had nearly made their escape.

But they celebrated too soon. As a rumbling sound echoed from within the caverns, they tensed. Just what they needed. Turning around, Ichiro eyed the tunnel where massive footfalls reverberated through the walls… and they were approaching quickly.

"Damn it all…"

Soma grumbled, shifting Neo's body in his arms. A Vajra wasn't an impossible task. This would be true even with the pair of them alone. But they didn't have that power at their disposal. Ichiro was in terrible shape and fighting the Vajra himself would waste too much time. Neo could die in wait, and that was assuming that no others showed up during the brawl. Glancing to his side, he could tell that Ichiro had thought the same thing. He slowed his pace, bringing Soma to a stop.

"Take Neo and get back to the Den."

"What? Hamasaki -"

"There's no other option. You know that."

Soma closed his mouth. He did know it. He knew it very well.

But that didn't mean that he was willing to accept it.

Ichiro would mark the third of his lost comrades in the span of months… two of them commanding officers. His eyes dropped to the woman lying shakily in his arms. There was also the problem of Neo to consider. Surely, she wouldn't be happy about her other half staying behind.

The moment he turned she gave them her answer. In an alarming display, the woman, nearly unconscious, reached out her hand and grabbed his own. Her eyes slowly opened as she turned her head towards his retreating form. Somehow, she knew what he was thinking. Neo almost always seemed to know what Hamasaki was thinking.

Offering his trademark gentle smile, he turned around and squeezed her trembling hand. He could see the fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Neo. I'm only going to slow them down. I'll be right behind you."

He slowly ran his thumb along her palm. In truth, he didn't know if he would ever see Neo again… but if he were to go, he would happily do so protecting her. The way he always had. It was the least he could do for his terrible mistake. She smiled back at him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

"I'll… be waiting..."

"I know."

He let her hand fall from his grasp and backed away from them. He paused for a moment as her eyes observed him. She could tell that he had something to say.

"Neo I…"

I love you.

"…I'm sorry."

The words caught in his throat as he gazed upon her dying form. To say the words would only make it harder. Some things were better left unsaid.

"I know… and I… forgive you."

With a sad smile, he turned his attention to the man holding her.

"Take care of her, Soma."

He only nodded, unsure of what to say. What could he possibly do other than honor his wish? He would take her back. Then he would tell the Director. Ichiro was strong. He would be able to hold out. He would hold on to that hope… he didn't have a choice.

As he turned away, he remembered.

"Hey."

Ichiro turned to see Soma reaching into his pocket. He tossed a disk towards him, which he caught with his bloody hand. Dropping it in his pocket, he smirked and turned away, God Arc raised. Soma turned away as well, running toward the exit.

As their forms shrank in the distance, he slowly reached into his bag and pulled out a small file filled with a shimmering orange liquid. He had planned to use the compound against Neo but hadn't been certain if it would be wise. After all, he had never really tested his creation on a human subject before. Now seemed as good a time as any to try it. What did he have to lose? Wincing as the needle pierced his skin, he watched the concoction disappear as he injected it into his body. As the Vajra came into view, he smiled.

"All right, you bastards. Let's dance."

In the distance, Soma ran, eyes forward. In his arms, Neo sighed and closed her eyes. She knew that she could rest. He would return to her soon. He always did.